Pro-Palestinian activists storm Israeli Consulate in Chicago

NEW YORK

A group of pro-Palestinian demonstrators stormed the Israeli Consulate building in the US state of Illinois on Sunday to protest Israel’s war on Gaza.

Kuffiya, a pro-Palestinian group, posted on X that some of its activists entered the consulate in Chicago to protest the killing of over 30,000 Palestinians in Gaza.

A video showed protesters chanting "Freedom for Palestine" and unfurling a banner saying "Stop the US-backed Israeli genocide."

Protesters marched in downtown Chicago carrying Palestinian flags and calling for a cease-fire, blocking some streets to traffic.

Israel has launched a deadly offensive on the Gaza Strip following a cross-border incursion by the Palestinian group Hamas on Oct. 7. The ensuing Israeli bombardment has killed 30,410 people and injured 71,700 others with mass destruction and shortages of necessities.

The Israeli war has pushed 85% of Gaza’s population into internal displacement amid acute shortages of food, clean water, and medicine, while 60% of the enclave's infrastructure has been damaged or destroyed, according to the UN.

Israel stands accused of genocide at the International Court of Justice. An interim ruling in January ordered Tel Aviv to stop genocidal acts and take measures to guarantee that humanitarian assistance is provided to civilians in Gaza.

*Writing by Gizem Nisa Cebi in Istanbul